This spring is so packed full with new and returning crime series, we decided to lay out a viewing guide to help you keep track of all the dates and streaming services. There’s almost no way you’re going to be able to watch all these shows, so plan carefully.
Slow Horses
Apple TV – Premieres April 1st
Based on the widely acclaimed Mick Herron novels, Slow Horses follows the exploits of Slough House, where the bottomed-out agents of MI5 are sent to shuffle through the rest of their careers in quiet disgrace. But then, of course, something happens that brings them back into action. A compelling thriller bundled up with grace notes of dark humor, this adaptation boasts a pretty incredible cast, with Gary Oldman, Olivia Cook, Kristin Scott Thomas, Jonathan Pryce, and more. Serious espionage fans have long had this one circled on their calendar.
Tokyo Vice
HBO Max – Premieres April 7th
Another long rumored, hotly anticipated crime series, Tokyo Vice has an impressive lineage, created by J.T. Rogers with Michael Mann directing at least the first episode (and stamping the series with some of his famous visual aesthetics), the drama is based on the Jake Adelstein book, following an American reporter hired by a Japanese newspaper to cover the crime beat, soon taken under the wing of a veteran vice reporter who introduces him to the world of yakuza and organized crime.
Anatomy of a Scandal
Netflix – Premieres April 15th
The new David E. Kelley scandal-among-the-elite drama is based on the hit thriller by Sarah Vaughan, charting the exposure of various intertwined crises in London’s upper crust. This go-around stars Sienna Miller and should provide viewers with their tony psychological thriller fix for the month, and then some.
Better Call Saul
AMC – Premieres April 18th
(Season 6)
The final season of the greatest legal drama ever filmed is finally here, and it’s looking like a fitting conclusion, or maybe that’s just the trailer-induced “Days of Wine and Roses” haze talking. When we last left Jimmy, it looked like his final transformation into Saul had arrived, and he was ready to re-launch his legal career under the new auspices. It would appear the final season converges on the Breaking Bad aesthetic, too, with that bleached palette and all those sun-burnt vistas and looming violence hiding in the heat shimmers. The season will be broken into two parts, the second one starting in July. When it’s all said and done, we’ll be looking back on a masterpiece.
We Own This City
HBO – Premieres April 25th
The investigative book by Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton is now getting an HBO adaptation from none other than David Simon, George Pelecanos, and Reinaldo Marcus Green. The story follows the egregious abuses of the Gun Trace Task Force, emblematic of the broader structural ills of the so-called War on Drugs and the militarization of America’s police forces. This is the series Wire fans have been waiting on for a long while.
The Offer
Paramount+ – Premieres April 28th
Look I’m on the record wanting just about every major achievement in 1970s cinema to get the ‘making of’ prestige TV treatment—foremost an adaptation of Sam Wasson’s brilliant The Big Goodbye, about the making of Chinatown, which last I heard had rights sold to Ben Affleck—but to be honest, and based solely on the trailer, which is all I’ve seen of The Offer, this just doesn’t look very good. Too glitzy, too pleased with itself, too cute…I would like very much to be proven wrong on this, and I’m going to hold out all kinds of hope, because the material is just so spectacular, and so important to crime film buffs. Did I mention this is about the making of The Godfather? Probably I should have. Also Matthew Goode is playing Robert Evans, which I think I actually support, and I hope he makes the crossover into the Wasson-Affleck-Chinatown universe in the same role.
Under the Banner of Heaven
Hulu – Premieres April 28th
Based on the electrically good 2003 Jon Krakauer book of the same name, Under the Banner of Heaven stars Andrew Garfield and looks like it’s going to play out a True Detective atmosphere with an investigation into heinous, religion-soaked crimes in Utah, pointing toward extremist sects within the Mormon church. Dustin Lance Black wrote the adaptation, with David Mackenzie directing. I’m ready to jump into this one, but wondering how they’re going to handle the historical ‘digressions’ that were so central to the book?
The Shining Girls
Apple TV – Premieres April 29th
It’s hard to imagine a marriage of author and actor more exciting than Lauren Beukes’s Shining Girls getting a big production starring Elizabeth Moss, but here it is, and it looks about as brooding and disturbing as you could hope for. A time traveling murder targets a connected series of women, disturbing temporal planes and throwing one woman into an existential quest to trace and stop him. Apple TV pushed in a lot of chips for this one, and it might well be the series that captures the public imagination this spring, assuming enough people actually have Apple TV and remember where and how to find this series.
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Further Viewing
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Mayans M.C.
FX – Premieres April 19th
(Season 4)
More outlaw motorcycle gang operatics – you can never have enough…
The Flight Attendant
HBO – Premieres April 21st
(Season 2)
The second season of one of last year’s standout thrillers…
Gaslit
Starz – Premieres April 24th
The podcast adaptation nobody needs but is somehow full of stars…
Barry
HBO – Premieres April 24th
(Season 3)
A new season for Bill Hader’s brooding hitman comedy…
